GBI Arrests Suspect in 1984 Rape and Murder Cold Case in Waycross

WAYCROSS, Ga. — A Ware County man has been arrested in connection with a decades-old rape and murder case after new DNA evidence linked him to the crime, authorities said.

On March 31, 2026, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested 68-year-old Freddie Lee Granger Jr. and charged him with rape, aggravated assault, malice murder, and two counts of felony murder in the death of 22-year-old Sandra Kaye Davis.

Davis was found dead on September 1, 1984, beside a home on Kollock Street in Waycross. Investigators determined she had been strangled.

The Waycross Police Department initially handled the case and later requested assistance from the GBI. Officials said investigators remained committed to the case over the years, and recent DNA testing ultimately identified Granger as a suspect.

Granger was taken into custody and booked into the Ware County Jail.

Multiple agencies assisted in the investigation and arrest, including the Waycross Police Department, Ware County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia Department of Community Supervision, and the GBI Cold Case Unit.

The investigation remains active and ongoing.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Douglas at 912-389-4103. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.

Once the investigation is complete, the case file will be given to the Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.